Ryan Tate

Britain's Daily Mail begins holiday heartbreak story with the quote, "We'll sell our toys to pay for daddy's funeral," and the Dickensian drama just builds from there: Mounting debts; the looming prospect of home eviction; and little details like these:

Under the headline, "THE TOYS THE LEE GIRLS ARE AUCTIONING:"

A cuddly teddy. 'It should be very valuable as it's one of the last presents daddy ever bought me,' said Jodie, 8....

Night vision goggles. Lauren, 12, wants to auction off a Modern Warfare 2.... 'Dad and me had so much fun with this game _ we loved playing with the night vision goggles. He was very good at it."

Bonus points to the Mail for having the family pose with the toys soon to be given up for "Daddy's Funeral Fund Auction." A real bright spot of holiday cheer, that.